A Journey to Find Herself
by Pearl Warrior
Summary: Death. A word everyone fears yet they accept it. Everyone dies, they are born to die, but sometimes deaths can be avoided. Kairi, Sora and their group face many dangers, some brought upon them by their own ignorance, their emotions taking control.
1. Starting In Eighth Grade

**A Journey to find myself**

**Chapter 1**

**Starting in Eighth Grade**

There was a clear blue sky outside the window, giving a golden sheen across Destiny Islands. I sat on my bed, thinking about the day ahead.

I was only about 5'5 and my red hair, that only just passed my ears, was a mess. My blue pajamas had a cute black cat and the writing underneath said 'I am not a morning cat' I was only 14 and was starting the New Year in ninth grade.

'Oh well, at least there isn't rain,' I muttered to myself sarcastically. My violet eyes glanced around my room. It wasn't too flashy. I had pure white walls with posters of rock stars and pictures from when I was a kid spread across it. The carpet was a grey colour and clothes of all sorts were splattered everywhere. My bed was white as well and sheets were laid neatly across the top, courtesy of my mother, Kerry, and a wooden wardrobe stood across from it.

My mum loved white and decided to have the house decorated in that colour.

I got off the bed and walked to the wardrobe and grabbed a black tank top, white spaghetti strap shirt to put over it and a purple mini skirt with white slip on sneakers. Once I was dressed I walked out of my bedroom and down the white hallway and into the bathroom. I tried to comb the knots from my hair and put it up in a high ponytail.

I never wore my hair down, even though everyone loved to see me when it was, because I was still depressed from when _he_ died.

I didn't even want to think about _him _because whenever I did, I burst into tears.

XXXFLASHBACKXXX

_A teenage boy and Kairi were in a tight embrace down at the ocean._

'_I'll be there for you always, Kai. I just hope you'll be there for me too.' He said softly into my ear as he held me tight. His brunette spikes stood up unnaturally, defying all laws of physics._

'_I know but what about Riku? He was always our friend but now he hates our guts and hangs around with all the jerks' the red head Kairi said while putting her head against his chest. The boy towered over her and could put his chin on the top of her head._

'_He chose what he chose and we have to respect his choice even if he is acting like a jerk'_

'_Okay, but what was that fight about earlier with you and him'_

_He blushed, 'nothing…'His dark blue eyes shimmering with glee…_

XXXEND FLASHBACKXXX

He had broken his promise.

A crystal tear traveled down my face and my eyes started to water and vision became blurry. I wiped it away and said to myself that it was pointless to think of the past.

Taking one last look in the mirror, I decided to go to breakfast.

I walked down the white hallway, past the many pictures on the walls and into the kitchen. There was a large white table with white chairs placed around it Kerry was at the counter looking at a cookbook. She had auburn hair and light blue eyes that darted over the page of the book.

'You're finally awake, Kairi' she said with a soft tone, 'come and have breakfast before Namine comes'

I walked to the table in the middle of the dining room and sat down in front of the bowl of cereal.  
When I had finished, I heard a faint knock on the door.

'Bye, mum' I said unenthusiastically and grabbed my schoolbag and opened the front door. Behind it was Namine, in her white dress and white sandals. A light pink backpack lay on her shoulders. Namine was about an inch taller than me. She had bright blonde hair and light blue eyes, but not as blue as _his._

'Hey Kairi, are you ready to go?' Namine asked with a tone that meant that she was extremely happy.

'Yeah, I suppose' I mumbled uninterestingly. We started to walk in the direction of the school

'Kairi, lighten up. It's the first day of school. You're meant to be happy not all mopey' When I didn't say anything, just stared at my feet, she patted my back.

'I know you're still upset but that was three years ago and you should just move on and forget about him'

I nodded.

"I'm just having a really off day today." I said sweetly. I knew Naminè was right but I was still secretly hoping that he would come back, but that would be impossible.

The rest of the walk was silent until we reached Fates Cry High School for Gifted Students, but this wasn't a normal school. It was a school for kids with special abilities. Namine's was the ability to use Light Mind Power and read peoples thoughts, and that could get quite annoying if she used it continuously, but she didn't. She thinks people deserve a bit of privacy. She could also make someone lose there memory by drawing false ones to replace their old ones but she hasn't learnt enough to be able to erase as much as she wants and with more practice she could manipulate people to do what she wishes.

I was different to most people. I could use the power of the Heart. That is the least researched of all elements. With my power I can change myself into a being of whatever my heart desires within my abilities but I haven't learnt enough to get it exactly as I want it. The elements are Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Mind, Heal, Strength, Transformation, Language, Agility, Flexibility, Summon, Poison, Sickness, Teleport, Dance and Knowledge.

Not only are there all the elements to remember but there are also two categories, light and dark. For example, two people could have the ability of Weapons but one could have Light Weapons like the keyblade, a rare weapon of light in the shape of an oversized key and can only be summoned by the strongest light weapons master, and another could have dark weapons like the Soul Eater, a scimitar like blade that is in the shape of a dragons wing that can only be summoned by a powerful dark weapons master.

The school was a two storey cream brick building with huge front doors. Assortments of people were out in the front lawns doing ordinary stuff like it was the middle of term, not the start. Namine was searching for our friends.

'Hey Namine, Kairi,' a high pitched voice said from behind us.

We turned around to see a bouncy brunette with a large curl at the end of her hair. She wore a yellow dress with brown sandals and a green backpack lay on her shoulders. Bright hazel eyes shone with excitement. Her ability was Light Speed which allowed the people she wanted to move faster by skipping with her rope in a sequence for any amount of time and was very effective in battle. Once she mastered it she could use it on a large amount of people at a time

'Hey Selphie, where are the others?' Namine asked in her usual sweet and shy voice.

'They're still coming,' Selphie answered, 'you guys were actually early for once'

Naminè and Selphie giggled. I just stared off into the distance… thinking…

Selphie stopped laughing when she saw the pained expression on my face.

'What's up, Kairi' Selphie asked.

'Nothing… just thinking' I lied. There was a moment of silence.

_RING!!!_

My thoughts were interrupted.That was the bell for organization which was the time when everyone went inside to get ready for their first class.

'There goes the bell' I said to the others and sighed. We started to walk through the front door and towards our lockers.

'Leaving without us are you?' A male voice called from behind, 'and I thought we were your friends'

We turned around to see Tidus and Wakka running up to us.

Tidus' muddy blonde hair shone in the light of the hallways lanterns. He wore a yellow shirt that opened up at the front and a silver necklace with the blitz ball sign that hang in the middle. He had black overalls with one leg only reaching his mid thigh while the other leg reached his mid shin. Tidus' power was Light Water which allowed him to manipulate water. When he masters it he can summon water from the air instead of having to have the water in view.

Wakka was an amber haired blitz ball fan. He always wore a patterned blue headband and a yellow singlet and baggy black pants. His power was Light Poison. He could infect people with lethal or just painful poisons. When he could master it he could send poisons to a large amount of people without using too much energy.

'Oh really? When did we decide this?' Selphie said jokingly. This caused everyone to laugh but me, though it succeeded in bringing a small smile to my face.

We continued walking to our lockers which were conveniently next to each other. I pulled out the timetable that was mailed to me three weeks ago and grabbed the books that were needed.

"What are your first classes?" I asked

"Sport" Tidus answered.

"History" Wakka groaned.

"Art" Naminè answered.

"Training 2" Selphie moaned.

"I have a Free Class" I stated.

_RING!!!_

We started for class as soon as the bell sounded. While walking I could've sworn I saw movement from the right but when I looked there was nothing but several lockers.

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_Hey, this is the first story from me, I loved writing this one but I want to know whether you all wanted to read it. Please review and I don't own anything._


	2. Class: Free

**Chapter 2**

**Class: Free**

**Unknown POV**

I stood in the pouring rain, oblivious to the black creatures around me. The Soul Eater was clutched in my hand and drenched in blood.

_They will be after me in a few minutes once they see the man I left by the street,_ I thought.

One person was on my mind…

She was the reason for my ruthless killing, my hate and anger towards _him._ After all these years I had found _him _but he had slipped away again and my journey started anew, to find and kill my target for her.

_He _had evaded me for the last time and the next time we meet it will be the last.

I'll make sure of it...

My black hood slipped off my head when I reached to take it off, revealing a face of a person many people were to remember, the face of an old friend…

**Kairi's POV**

I was sitting in my only free class in the day, writing in my text book with out even concentrating on what I was writing. When I stopped I glanced at the paragraph.

"_How could you do this to me? You were my only friend and when you died I was lonely for years. Everything that was so easy now seems so difficult and I find it hard to smile, so hard to be friendly and nice. I'm not who I used to be. I need you and even if only for a second, I want to see your face and say goodbye. I was deprived of those words when you left me and now my mind has come to the belief that you are truly gone. But my heart believes that you live and will come back to me so even if I have to wait for eternity, I will wait for the day you come back…" _

I blinked in surprise

I wrote that? I thought, completely confused.

* * *

_This chapter was a bit short but the next one is going to be longer. Review please?_


	3. Class: Training 2

**Chapter 3**

**Class: Training 2**

**Kairi's POV**

_RING!!!_

What's next? I thought. Deciding to show the paragraph to Naminè later, I looked at my timetable.

Training 2 was in the 9:30 slot.

Joining the rest of the class, I walked off down the hall and around the corner to Gym 2. The school had three gyms, two were used for classes and the other was for lunch, where you can play fight with teachers supervision.

Once I reached the brown double doors, I pushed on the handle and entered a large room with a wooden floor. There were already a large number of people standing around waiting for the teacher Mr. Hatire. The roof was higher then the ones in the hallways and classrooms and there were benches lining the walls.

"Good morning class and welcome back to the first day of the year," a deep voice echoed around the room, Mr. Hatire, "today you will be sparing with me so I can figure out what things need to be taught and our healers will stay on the sideline ready to attend to any… accidents that may happen" Mr. Hatire shone a smirk across the classroom, making his orange eyes shine with malice. He wore a white robe and had waist long silver hair yet he was only thirty. His power was Dark Elementals which he could channel dark power through his attacks.

He was the strictest teacher out of all the teachers in the school. He was also the most horrifying and malicious. People would cower in fear if he even spoke in a raised voice. Once he went too far and his temper got the best of him and he punched a freshman for not having a good fighting stance and now that person has to travel around in a wheelchair and that students face will never be the same.

Mr. Hatire always gives me a hard time. Even people who are usually snickering at me or talking about me behind my back show apologetic looks when I have to answer a question or get yelled at for not trying to improve my power.

"Quit standing around like confused sheep and go to the benches." The class obliged, not ready for a raised voice yet. I sat next to Tidus, who had the same class as me.

'Wonder whose going first?" Tidus whispered to me. I looked at him in disbelief.

"One guess." I answered in a low tone.

"Alright," Mr. Hatire said, clapping his hands together, smirk still planted on his face. "Who wants to go first?" No ones hand was up, just people looking at each other, knowing what was going to happen.

"If no one wants to volunteer I shall pick…" My heart was going a thousand miles an hour. I closed my eyes not wanting to look at the smug look on the teachers face, "Mr. Fratine"

My eyes shot open. That wasn't me. Tidus got up and I gave him a confused face while everyone else was whispering to each other.

Tidus got in his fighting stance and Mr. Hatire simply turned in his direction and held out his palm. Everyone went dead silent, so much that you could almost hear people's heartbeat.

"We start when I say 'go'. Ready," Tidus stiffened, "set," a bead of sweat flowed down his face, "GO!!!"

"Ready for a wave of pain" Tidus yelled while a bucket of water that was in the corner of the room started to shake and a bubble of water flew in his direction. It settled just above Tidus' outstretched hand.

"Taste Darkness" the teacher yelled. A yellow glow surrounded him and the room went black. Flashes of lightning surrounded him and one of them struck him and created a ball of light. When the room went back to its normal light, Mr. Hatire's body was surrounded by lightning blots that wrapped closely to his skin but when they touched him, he didn't even flinch. His eyes shone a pitch black through the yellow glow that emanated from his body. I gasped. He was going to use the Thunder Elemental, which was the opposite of Water. I could feel the power of the Thunder and the Darkness tugging at my heart. This much power could kill the whole class and much more in just one hit. He was truly testing us.

The rest of the class must have noticed for everyone's breath quickened and there were whispers here and there.

"Remember what I taught you Mr. Fratine, use your opponent's weaknesses to your advantage" the teacher stated coldly, his voice sounding like a thunder storm.

He made the first move. A ball of electricity settled above his hand and with a small flick of the wrist, the ball was set flying at Tidus and made contact with his stomach which sent him flying a few feet into the air.

Enraged by the attack, Tidus stood up and sent the sphere of water at the teacher but his fast reflexes forced the ball to lose its target and bash into the wall.

"You'll have to do better than that" he said and sent another ball at Tidus which hit him in the chest and sent him to the other side of the room and knocked him out. One of the class healers ran over there and attended to his injuries. I was about to go over there too when the teachers hand held my shoulder.

"Leave him there. He will be fine," he said coldly and unnaturally gentle, now in his normal form. "The worst thing for him would be for his friends to think of him as weak"

I nodded. In no mood to argue, I seated myself on the bench.

Many fights passed with the opponents leaving the fight with low faces. My name was yet to be called.

"Ms. Louise. Please step up here and take your fighting position." The teacher's voice boomed across the gym. Now it was my turn.

My heart began beating even harder than before. I slowly got up from my seat, all eyes on me. I took my place and my teacher just stared at me, his piercing orange eyes searching my soul.

He changed first. Swirling clouds surrounded the gym, eventually meeting up in the middle.

He was going to use a Summon.

Once the clouds had all dispersed, a large creature stood in their place. It had long and pointed talons and stood on four legs. The spine of the creature hung out and it truly was a gruesome sight.

I just stood there, trying to dodge the claws that kept on attacking me, not giving me a chance to attack or defend.

"No wonder that wimp died, you weren't strong enough to save him. What was his name? Sora wasn't it?" the teacher's voice sounded teasingly. I almost stopped but then a claw came close to my face and I began to dodge again. "Yeah that's it, he always had a girls name and I was surprised he wasn't one."

That was it. I pulled my hands in front of myself, while dodging the attacks from the beast, and summoned a small knife with a ruby embedded in the hilt.

Mr. Hatire just laughed. I stabbed his creation with newly found anger. My knife only cut its arm but the wound began to bleed heavily. What followed astounded me. The ruby began to glow and the creature went alight, the flames consuming every inch of it. It was gruesome so I turned away. What a mistake that was. The creature, before disappearing, clawed my arm and left a bloody gash. I screamed, clutching the arm, as my wound began to burn in intense pain.

Everyone in the room went deathly silent. Mr. Hatire stared in shock, the class's eyes were glued to me and my arm stung like a thousand needles.

'C-class dis-smised.' Mr. Hatire stuttered.

* * *

_Hope thatslong enough for you... oh, and I want to thank Unmei06 for her reviews._


	4. Class: History

**Chapter 4**

**Class: History**

**Kairi's POV**

_RING!!!_

I was never gladder to hear that annoying ring of the bell. The class filed out into the hallway, all as quiet as a mouse. I held my arm out as one of the class healers cured it to its normal state. Tidus walked beside me in silence until we came to a t junction in the halls. With a nod, I walked to the left and Tidus traveled right. I walked to the History classroom, my most hated subject. Wakka was searching over everyone's heads.

"Hey, why the long face," Wakka said with his calm Jamaican accent.

"I'll explain later." I said and smiled ever so slightly. Wakka nodded and we proceeded into the classroom. It was filled with chairs with no desks. An open window on the back wall let in a slight draft.

"Ok class, go find a desk." The teacher said, his gruff face showed boredom. He had short blonde hair and squinted blue eyes. His clothes were a white shirt and blue pants. Everyone quickly found a seat and watched uninterestingly for more instructions.

"What are you doing sitting there? I believe I told you to find a desk, not a chair!" He said and chuckled.

"But sir, there are no desks." A kid from the back of the classroom shouted. The teacher straightened to his full height and fiddled with the corner of his desk.

"No desks eh?" Suddenly the wall behind him opened like a door and inside was a large field with lush green grass, azure blue skies and a bright sun. Farther off were a line of wooden desks. "I believe they are what you're looking for?"

The class gasped in awe and walked slowly to the desks, taking in the scenery. My heart soared with the sights, the slightly damp grass glowing in the suns light, the cloudless skies of the purest blue. Once everyone was situated near a desk, the teacher's voice boomed across the valley,

"You may be thinking, 'Why are we here for a history lesson?' Well this class has now been changed to Relaxation and I'm Cid. If anyone calls me Mr. I'll kill em. The History teacher has fallen ill and this is the only class that wasn't taken. Now, any questions? No I didn't think so."

I thought, _I might like this class…_

"Now come to the front…' Cid's voice started to get quieter until he was moving his mouth but no sound was coming out. Suddenly a sharp, stabbing pain came from my forehead and my world began spinning. My vision then began to blur and I saw something I couldn't quite make out. It was brown at the top and red everywhere else.

"Sora…" I whispered painfully, my voice dripping with anxiety and sadness, before I blacked out.

* * *

_Hey, I'm only just getting into the plot... but that was a short chapter, sorry... I just wanna know; doesn't anyone like my story? Cause so far I've only had one reviewer, who I just wanna thank again, and I'm sorta getting a tad depressed so if you read it, please leave a review for me...  
_


	5. Class: Skipped

**Chapter 5**

**Class: Skipped**

**Wakka's POV**

I turned to see Sora running to Kairi, who had just collapsed. The class gasped as they saw _him_.

"What are you doing here? You have no right to be here!" I snapped venomously. The class and Cid had silenced and watched the two with anticipation. His brunette spikes bounced as he turned his head to me, ocean blue eyes held deep concern and confusion. He wore his red jumpsuit, black and white jacket and clown size yellow shoes.

"Why can't I help my best friend when she's in danger?" He replied calmly. My temper flared, my usual calm nature disappearing.

"_Why?! _ You died and now you just walk in here like nothing ever happened, ya! Kairi has been upset for three years because you had gone; she still hasn't gotten over it. She gets angry, sad and lonely more then ever all because you had died but here you are now, ya, standing right in front of me." I turned away from my old friend.

"Wakka… I was kidnapped." Sora said and looked down. I spun around hurriedly, surprised and shocked. I looked Sora straight in the eye, knowing that he was speaking the truth. "That day, that the funeral was held, I was locked in a car. Then I was locked inside an old basement, until I broke out but I was being followed…" Sora shut his eyes tightly. I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, my temper disappearing.

"Hey, sorry man," I said comfortably. Sora smiled a goofy smile at me before turning back to Kairi on the floor. The class started to whisper to each other as Sora lifted Kairi into his arms.

"Wakka, care to show me where the nurse's office?"

"Follow me, ya!" Sora and I ran off to the nurse's office, Kairi being held tightly by Sora, whose face was unusually panic stricken. We ran down the white hallways, past gasping students and angry teachers before we came to the cream door of the nurse's office. Sora rushed in and I followed hastily. We came up to the nurse, Ms. Gainsbourgh. Her long brown hair was tied in a braid with a pink ribbon, her pink dress reached her ankles and her brown boots clanked on the tiled floor as she walked hurriedly up to us.

"Leave her with me, I'll help her." Ms. Gainsbourgh said sweetly. Sora carried the still unconscious Kairi over to the white sheeted bed and placed her gently on top. The nurse felt her forehead and shook her head before muttering a few words and a green aura surrounded Kairi and her once struggling breaths turned into deep, gentle ones.

"She seems to have just been feeling faint; she'll be awake in a while. I saw Sora's face noticeably calm. Then, I realized something. Ms. Gainsbourgh would've known Sora for a long time, how come she wasn't surprised he wasn't lying cold in a coffin, but alive and running around? Something was up, and I was determined to find out what…

* * *

_I think I rushed this chapter a bit... I dunno, did it seem like it to you? Please, if you read this, can you please review? Thank you to Fernclaw for your review, much appreciated! I am going on a six day holiday on Wednesday so I'll try and get a chapter in tomorrow but I'm not promising anything. So you won't hear from me for six days from Wednesday.  
_


	6. Class: Invasion!

**A Journey to Find Herself  
**

**Chapter 6**

**Class: Lunch**

**Kairi's POV**

_ RING!!!_

I heard voices around me but I didn't open my eyes.

"She should be waking soon." The soft voice of Ms. Gainsborough stated.

"I sure hope so, ya?" The unmistakable accent of Wakka said.

There was a small silence.

"I think we should head off to Lunch Sora, the others will need a good explanation." Wakka stated. My heart raced.

_ Sora!_ I screamed in my head.

"Yeah, that would be the best thing to do, plus, I'm hungry." Sora's voice said.

I was filled with joy when my eyes fluttered open to reveal his spiky brown hair. I moaned and cringed in pain as my head throbbed.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled and ran to the side of the bed. I smiled, some of my energy returning. Ms. Gainsborough came over and smiled sweetly.

"Kairi, if you are up to it, you can go to Lunch with Wakka and Sora." She said gently. I was surprised that the nurse wasn't shocked that a dead boy was well and walking, Wakka seemed a bit suspicious too but my excitement mended into a large smile, one I had not shown in a long time. I sat up slowly with little to no pain. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up with no difficulty,

"Let's go, ya?" Wakka grinned. Sora, Wakka and I waved farewell to Ms. Gainsborough and walked down the hallway to the double doors of the lunch room.

"Wait," I said and stopped Sora from opening the door. He looked to me and raised an eyebrow and my heart leaped. "If you walk in, won't you be barricaded by questions by the school? Maybe Wakka or I should get our group."

Sora smiled goofily at me.

"Good idea. So... who's going in?" Sora asked.

"I will." Wakka volunteered. He walked in the doors and left Sora and me in the silence that engulfed us. My heart ran miles and my palms began to sweat.

"So..." Sora said nervously and stared at his feet. I giggled shakily, a smile and a blush evident on my face,

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence before there was the sound of claws behind us. We spun around hastily to see a small, black, dog looking creature with heartless yellow eyes. I looked to Sora, terror constricting my thoughts. When I returned my attention to the creature, I found dozens more, all their yellow eyes staring at us.

Sora turned to the door and tried to open it but found it locked. Terror kept me frozen on my spot, unable to move.

"Move or be moved!" A bitter voice yelled from somewhere in the mass of black. I then noticed a 'pile' of feathers in the sea of creatures.

"Stop standing around like confused sheep and move away from the door!" The same voice shouted. The feathers stretched to show magnificent black feathered wings and the person who bore them. She had wine red hair tied into a pony tail that reached her low back and crimson red eyes. Her tank top and sneakers were blood red while her cargo pants and choker were both black.

Sora and I moved to the walls, as close as we could get.

The girl flew over the creatures and a ball of fire built up in her hand. She sent it at the door, which burnt a hole big enough to pass through. The creatures just stayed in their places and watched closely.

"Get going!" The girl yelled and flew through the hole. Sora and I rushed after her and into the lunch room. Tables and chairs littered the floor and food splattered the floor and walls. A great struggle happened here.

"Who are you?" I asked the girl, who was checking underneath the tables.

"We need to move but I'm Amara." She answered, slightly more gently then before. When she moved into the light of the windows, I noticed something about her wings. There were parts where there was no skin; no feathers; nothing but empty gaps. Also, black blood was seeping from where the wings came out of her back.

"What's with your wings?" Sora asked. Amara stopped her search and looked mournfully to us.

"I can't-" Amara started but was interrupted by the creatures crawling through the hole in the door, their claws scraping the ground.

Amara leaped into the air and grabbed Sora and I by the collar of our shirts and hovered high above the creatures. She opened her mouth and screamed. It sounded like the screeching of a thousand hawks but yet it still sounded like the chime of bells. I felt the sound blend with my feelings; I wanted to break something, see it shatter to the floor. The creatures seemed only slightly affected, they were all crouched to the floor motionless. Cracks began to appear in the window as Amara's scream intensified in volume. Abruptly, Amara stopped screaming and all the creatures sat in stunned silence. The window gave a deafening crack, sounding like two rocks clashing together, and shattered onto the floor, shards piercing the creatures near the broken window.

Amara wasted no time in flying out and over the sports field. The school had all escaped and was seated on the grass.

Amara slowly descended towards the students, who looked in our direction. I gasped as I glimpsed a dagger fly through the air, directed at Amara's heart. She moved to dodge it but it struck her on her wing, black blood dripping off the wound. Her speed decreased slowly and her wings lost their rhythm. I looked to her to see her face was wrinkled in agony.

"No!" Tidus yelled from below as Amara lost flight and plummeted to the earth.

Just before we reached the ground, she folded her wings around us as we struck the grass, hard and painfully.

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_This chapter WAS longer but I shortened it so I could get something up quicker. Reviewers... I know your out there... can you please review or I won't post another chapter!_


	7. Broken Wings

A Journey to Find Herself

Chapter 7

Broken Wings

I grunted in pain as I stood, getting off of Amara's broken wings as fast as my pain filled body could. She lay on the grass, surrounded by the students of the school, Sora in just as much pain as myself and calling for help. My head throbbed and my arm was bruised from the fall.

"What happened here?" Ms. Gainsborough cried. She emerged from the crowd, panic evident on her face.

"Long story." I quickly blurted out. The experienced nurse rushed to Amara and stood at her feet. She reached her head to the sky and tilted her head back, a green aura working up in her hands. It writhed through the air like a snake and coated my winged friend. Her wings joints clicked back into their places and the gaps in her wings began to fill in.

I breathed a sigh of relief to see all her wounds gone; her wings now full and clean. Her eyes fluttered open tiredly and she moaned as she propped herself onto her elbows.

"That hurt." Amara stated bluntly. Some of the students around her snickered, mostly the boys, but otherwise showed signs of relief.

"Amara! Never thought I'd see you back here!" Mr. Hatire yelled as he emerged from the crowd, a huge, unnatural grin on his face. He knelt next to Amara, whose wings disappeared in a flash of lights, and embraced her.

"Hey dad, sorry I haven't contacted you, it's been hectic with me." Amara replied, the small signs of a smile appearing. I was in complete shock, the whole school was shocked.

"Students!" Mr. Strife's voice boomed. He pushed through the students and stood next to Mr. Hatire, his short blonde spikes that fell over his left eye shined in the sun. His ocean blue eyes demanded authority and his attire consisted of a black cloak with one sleeve cut at the shoulder. He looked to Mr. Hatire and they both nodded.

"As you know, the school has been overrun by-" Mr. Strife started but Amara butted in.

"Heartless." Everyone looked to Amara, she was full of surprises.

"Ok… the Heartless have overrun our school and we must win it back! Anyone willing to fight please come with Mr. Hatire and myself and anyone who does not wish to fight please exit the school through the far gates. We will contact you when school resumes." Mr. Strife continued.

I watched as many of the people walked to the gates but I stood in my place, along with Naminè, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Amara and Sora.

"Follow me." Mr. Strife said. We walked to a cluster of trees, where I saw three faint figures in the distance. As we neared them, they turned their attention to us. The girl on the left had a dark purple spaghetti strap shirt that barely covered her stomach and a denim mini skirt. Her deep purple hair reached the tips of her shoulder blades, her pale blue eyes lighting up. She had tanned skin and two silver, big loop earrings hung from her ears. Her purple boots crunched twigs and leaves as she ran to us, a wide, toothy grin on her face.

"Hey I'm Shay." She introduced hyperly. A boy with silvery blue hair, going into blue which covered his right eye and cobalt blue eyes looked depressed but approached us.

"Zexion." He stated bluntly. He wore a blue grey shirt and brown cargo pants.

"The name's Axel, A-X-E-L," A boy with red, spiked hair and pale green eyes spelled out. "Got it memorized?" He pointed to the side of his forehead. He wore a black jacket over a red shirt and black cargo pants.

"Can you all proceed to the detention room? Mr. Hatire and I have some business to attend to." Mr. Strife stated. Everyone nodded. The two teachers ran in some unknown direction, through the trees.

"Follow me!" Shay said perkily and ran to a place in-between two bent trees. We all followed and Shay pulled up a wooden trap door.

"Come on!" Axel shouted and climbed down a ladder inside.

As everyone reached the bottom, they were greeted by darkness and the sound of raised voices. Suddenly a light flickered on some way away and Axel shushed us. For some unknown reason, we creped across a barely visible wall and stopped as we reached an open, wooden door.

"It's your fault we're stuck in here! You just HAD to offer to come here! If you hadn't, we might actually have been able to see people! Trust me, looking at you for any amount of time is torture!" A girl's voice yelled from inside.

"Emma…" A boy's voice whispered barely audibly.

"Get it through your head! I don't like you; you don't like me, get ov-" Her voice was silenced, a short growl muffled but was quickly replaced with a sigh.

Axel walked straight into the room and yelled jokingly: "So is this what you do when I'm not around?"

* * *

_Hey, I finally updated but I've made a new rule: I'm not updating till I get three reviews, more would be apprieciated._ _I'm just so sick of only having like two reviews for a chapter and I want more, I know your out there!_


	8. Uncomfortable Situation

**A Journey to Find Herself**

**Chapter 8**

**Uncomfortable Situation**

**No POV**

We glanced into the bright room, white walls, white tiled floor, white chairs and desks. A girl with shoulder length brunette hair streaked blue was in the middle of kissing a boy with a blonde mullet. They both had a look of bliss on their faces; his arms were around her neck.

"So this is what you do when I'm not around?" Axel shouted and barged in, the couple broke apart hastily. Sora, Kairi, Naminè, Tidus and Wakka followed Axel shyly. Amara and Zexion stood in the shadows of the door and Shay wolf whistled as she skipped in.

"You go Emma!" Shay cheered. Emma blushed and looked down. She wore a soft sand colored tank top, black cargo pants and black army boots. Axel walked up to a random desk and sat on its wooden surface. There was a silence, the wind from above was the only sound heard.

"Well aren't we a talkative bunch…" Axel stated. Shay skipped up to Emma, humming an unknown tune.

"Emma, Demyx meet Sora, Kairi, Amara, Tidus, Naminè, Wakka and Selphie." Shay introduced, pointing to each respective person.

"And you already know Zex and me." Axel said. A small growl came from Zexion.

"You know Zexy." Shay said and skipped over to him. Zexion watched her in slight curiosity. "You never smile! Why don't you smile? It's easy! You're always so depressing, lighten up!"

Zexion snorted and closed his eyes and leaned more onto the wall.

"Fine, don't listen to me." Shay said and poked her tongue out at him. Mr. Strife and Mr. Hatire walked into the room; everyone diverting their attention to them.

"Follow me; we will begin your training straight away." Mr. Strife strode over to a random wall and tapped on its rough surface. The wall opened like a door and revealed a jungle like surrounding. Trees, vines and all sorts of greenery littered the area. A large area of grass the size of a football oval was slightly more level and was surrounded by long, green benches like in the Gym.

"Whoa, dude." Wakka stated and looked around in awe. Naminè fiddled with her fingers and followed Mr. Strife who had advanced to the benches.

"Now I need you all to give a demonstration of your powers to the group. We need to know what areas we will lack in power and what ones we won't when you have to combine your powers together." Mr. Strife said. "Amara, you may start."

Naminè, Tidus, Wakka, Sora, Kairi, Selphie, Zexion, Axel, Emma, Shay and Demyx and the two teachers all sat on the benches, watching anxiously as Amara approached the center of the grassed area. She summoned her wings, their dark feathers shadowing a large part of the ground. With the palm of her hand out stretched and facing the ground, she hummed a soft, musical tune. Though her voice seemed small and unheard, it echoed like a bell. The grass directly beneath her hand began to swirl and a small flower the length of Amara's fore arm creped from beneath. It bloomed, the red center and black petals a great contrast to Amara's clothes. She bent down and picked it out of the grass, it floated just above of her palm.

"Interesting… you are the one that was expelled from the school, am I correct?" Mr. Strife told Amara as she came back to the benches, her rose whittling away. "What is you strongest element?"

The teenagers on the bench all seemed a bit confused. How could someone have more then one element and not have Elementals?

"Fire followed by Lightening then Ice and my weakest is Water." Amara stated with no hesitation.

"Are you light or dark?"

Amara stuck her black finger nails into her wrist, leaving the people on the bench even more stupefied. She held up her palm and they saw black blood, the same that had came from her wings, flow down her wrist in a small droplet.

Why would she do that? Kairi thought…

"Dark." She stated clearly with a frown on her face. Her face was more then slightly menacing and sent shivers down most of the teenagers' backs. She made her wings disappear and sat down on the bench, next to Kairi on the end.

"Me next!" Selphie yelled from her place on the bench. I was surprised this was the first thing she had said since I last saw her.

She skipped over to where Amara had made her flower and a skipping rope appeared in her hand. She skipped once then twice and her speed increased until she was just a blur. Then she slowed down again and skipped over to the benches again.

"Selphie, you have the power of speed correct? The element of Dance and Flexibility?" Mr. Hatire asked and Selphie nodded her head. "And you are light?"

Selphie nodded again and sat down in her original seat. Wakka stood up and went to show off his moves. A green and purple aura surrounded him and the grass beneath him began to shrivel away. He turned back to normal but the grass was still dead, the smell of poison writhing through the air.

"Wakka, you have Light Poison right?" Mr. Strife said and Wakka nodded. I noticed his blue eyes had a slight green tinge to them that quickly disappeared. He sat down and Tidus walked to his spot.

With his palms outstretched he summoned a large steel sword in his hands and thrashed it through the air, sending water in all directions. He walked back up to the benches and awaited an answer.

"I told you to improve boy! You better make me think you have or you won't see a heartless for as long as you live!" Mr. Hatire yelled in his face. The group just looked sympathetic, in Zexion's case uninterested, to Tidus. He sat down again and Axel approached the withered patch of grass. He summoned two chakrams from thin air, in a bent over position, and flung his head back and smirked. Flames appeared around him before they disappeared as quickly as they came. With a confident stride, he approached the teachers.

"Axel, Dark Fire, known by many as cocky and arrogant and has a great disrespect for the rules, correct?" Mr. Strife said with a frown on his face.

"That's me!" Axel stated proudly. From the bench, Amara groaned.

Axel sat down again but no one else got up. Mr. Strife stood in front of the small group.

"Now I have been analyzing some things some bonds between some of you and they are indeed quite strong. They are between Kairi and Sora and Emma and Demyx. I wish for them to show the group their powers together."

Sora and Kairi shrugged to each to each other and stood in the ground allocated. Kairi turned herself into a large white tiger, a streak of red hair across its back, and Sora summoned a sword blazed with lightening energy. Kairi the tiger grabbed the sword out of Sora's hands with her teeth and sliced it through the air, a bolt of lightening striking the ground in front of her. Kairi transformed back and Sora and she both approached the benches.

"Light Heart and Light Weapons… combined it is very interesting…" Mr. Hatire stated.

Demyx and Emma walked shyly out to the field. Demyx began by humming a soft tune while Emma summoned water which writhed like a snake around her arms. As Demyx's tune 'sunk in' to the water, it began to gracefully move around like a dancer. It came up close to people's faces before backing away again. When Demyx stopped his tune, the water dissolved before hitting the ground.

"Impressive… Light Song of Water blended with Light Water… very impressive…" Mr. Strife stated with a thoughtful look on his face.

"My turn!" Shay shouted and ran to the field. She did a small pose and a belt of grenades, bullets and bags of powder stored in its pockets. It hung from her shoulder down to her hip. In her hands was a large black gun. She loaded it with one of the powders and a frozen bullet struck a tree and froze it instantly. She smiled gratefully and dismissed her belt and weapon before coming back.

"Dark Ice Mix… interesting, the cross of Ice and Concentrated Weapons." Mr. Hatire stated with a finger on his chin. Shay beamed before sitting back down again.

Zexion stood up and approached the area. He closed his eyes and all the people on the bench saw not Zexion, but a completely different person. He had silver hair that reached his shoulders and clear aquamarine eyes. He wore a black cloak adorned with silver chains. He stood taller then Zexion ever had.

Kairi gasped from the benches. _Riku!_ Her head screamed.

Zexion was now back to his normal self and walked up to the two teachers.

"Dark Psychic Mind, a mix of Future seeing and Mind powers… May I ask one question… To change into someone, you have to have seen them sometime in the day, correct?" Mr. Hatire stated. Zexion nodded.

"Then you have seen Riku today? Where?" There was a stunned silence. Zexion had seen Riku?

"He was in Gym 1, during Lunch. He was the one who sent the Heartless…" Zexion answered uninterestingly.


	9. Bonds

**A Journey to Find Herself**

**Chapter 9**

**Bonds**

**Switching POV's**

**Kairi's POV**

I watched Mr. Strife as he went from surprised to curious to thoughtful. My heart screamed in protest. _Riku would never do that!_

Mr. Strife stood in front of the group and took a deep breath.

"Ok, now I need you to spar. I will put you in groups depending on how much you bond. The first group is… Kairi and Sora." Mr. Strife said. I let out a sigh of relief.

**Sora's POV**

_At least I know she's the one I'm closest too and not… _I thought as I looked to Zexion, _others…_

**Shay's POV**

"The next group is… Shay and Zexion." Mr. Strife said. I nearly screamed my lungs out.

_Me!? With the anti-social? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I screamed in my thoughts._

**Zexion's POV**

I grunted in my head.

_She never stops talking… I'm going to need some headache pills…_ I thought.

**Selphie's POV**

"Selphie and Wakka is a pair."

_Ew… why do I get the vegetable haired guy? _I thought.

**Wakka's POV**

_Not the hyper one, anyone but her!_ Wakka said.

**Emma's POV**

"Emma and Demyx."

I looked to my ultra hot boyfriend and smiled, he smiled back.

**Amara's POV**

"Amara and Axel."

I wrinkled my nose in disgust while Axel smirked at me. I saw Tidus look to Naminè, a flicker of unknown emotion in his eyes.

"I wish for Amara and Axel to be the first sparring partners. All left will be seated on the benches." Everyone went to their assigned seats and Axel and I approached their fighting space.

I just glared deep into Axel's eyes, her body in a fighting stance while Axel stood calmly and smirked, igniting my temper like a fire. I summoned my wings, two blades came as well. They were rounded and I held them up to my forearm, they reached close to my elbow.

I spun through the air at Axel and struck him across the face with the blunt side of my blades. I flew back into the air and waited for his next move. He sent a fire ball at me, which singed my wing slightly. It stung numbly and I went for another strike.

We took turns at giving blows, he struck then I struck, each one increasing in intensity. As I went to throw a ball of fire and he went to throw one of his own, they collided in the center and sent us flying through the air and we skidded across the grass hard. I had no more strength to move, my whole body ached from the fight.

_We aren't that different after all,_ I thought as I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

_Sorry it's short but everyone keeps on pushing me to get a new one up... Review please, remember, I'm not updating till I get three!_


	10. Preparations Soiled

**A Journey to Find Myself**

**Chapter 10**

**Preparations Soiled**

**Selphie's POV**

My head hurt from the amount of sugar I had to burn off, which would last me for the rest of the day. Demyx and Emma both had to carry the unconscious Amara to the benches. It was a straining effort because of Amara's wings but they eventually sat her against a tree. Axel awoke, seeming to be hardly as much injured as Amara and he limped over to a tree, as far away from Amara as he could get.

"Selphie and Wakka, your next." Mr. Strife said. I skipped to the battle field, my energy bubbling while Wakka just dawdled up there. I summoned my skipping rope and held it ready in my hands, waiting for Wakka to act.

Wakka summoned a blue and white ball, the size of his head, into his hands. He spun it on his fingers before holding it steady.

I began by starting to skip, everything around me slowing. Wakka was trying to watch me carefully as I skipped around him. He began to spin, poison building up around him in a green aura. I hit him with my rope and backed away, he seemed confused as his attack was stopped.

He tried six more times to get it to work but I continually stopped him. Then he just stared at me, or where he thought I was. I just watched him for any sudden movements.

Suddenly I was thrown back by his blue and white ball, a blitzball I think he called it. Before I hit the ground, I wrapped my rope around his leg and he fell as well.

I heard Shay giggle from the bench but it was cut short by Mr. Strife's demanding voice.

"Good spar next is Demyx and Emma."

I got up painfully, as well as Wakka, as Demyx and Emma walked up to the battlefield, almost afraid to fight each other.

**Emma's POV**

I didn't want to fight Demyx. We'd been going out for three months and we'd always stayed together. The thought of hitting him made me want to scream but it needed to be done, we needed to improve our powers.

Demyx looked sympathetically to me and whispered in my ear a short "sorry." He summoned his sitar and looked to me, waiting for my next move.

I summoned a bow equip with arrows, the tips swimming with Water.

Demyx stung some tunes from his sitar and large, watery objects bounced and jumped around. I strung back my bow and struck them, they seemed to be multiplying by the second though and my attempts were futile.

An idea struck my mind. I aimed my bow just over Demyx's shoulder and shot an arrow, being careful not to shoot him in the process.

His attention waned and his watery objects dispersed. I kicked him behind his knees he fell to the ground. When he hit the ground he sent a whip of water to trip me, which I blocked unsuccessfully and fell face first into the dirt.

As soon as Mr. Strife was about to call us over, the doors were blown open. In crawled the Heartless, thousands of their black bodies swarming inside the training ground.

"Come on! It's started sooner then we thought!" Mr. Strife yelled over to his pupils. He summoned a large buster sword wrapped in bandages and charged his opponents. Mr. Hatire changed into his Thunder elemental and struck down numerous foes with his lightening.

Axel, Amara, Shay, Zexion, Kairi, Sora, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, Naminè, Demyx and I all retreated to the back corner to figure out a game plan.

"We should all separate into the groups Mr. Strife put us in." Demyx said to the large group. Reluctantly for some, they all nodded.

Axel and Amara ran off to the left and into the trees, Shay and Zexion ran to the right near the benches, Kairi and Sora stayed near the back but attacked with range attacks, Selphie and Wakka charged through the middle, Tidus guarded Naminè as she searched through the Heartless' minds and killed them mentally, leaving them helpless and Demyx and I rode on a bubble of water over the fight and sent down water at any who seemed suspicious.

The battle finished questionably quickly. With little to no battle wounds, everyone met near the benches.

"We must act quickly. There will no doubt be more break outs and we must be prepared to move." Mr. Hatire said. He rolled out a map of the school. "Axel, Amara, you'll move in through the already broken Lunch Room window; Demyx and Emma, you'll go in through the front doors, Shay and Zexion, you will come in through the schools greenhouse, Naminè and Tidus will go through the back doors with Selphie and Wakka. Kairi and Sora, you will go through the emergency window in the History classroom. Everyone, you need to somehow get to Gym 1, where me will most likely find the most Heartless but we will also find Riku and stop the spread of the creatures. Once you find him, try and distract him until everyone is there. Mr. Strife and I will try and keep the Heartless away from you. Any Heartless inside is your problem."

We all walked out of the training room. My heart was pounding in my chest.

_One mistake… and I could die…_ I thought, looking to all the teenagers. They all shared the same face. _I may never see them again, and some I've only met for awhile and I feel like I've known them or a long time._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Amara's POV**

"Axel, I'll fly you in through the window. Be prepared for a fight. When I broke the window, there were teams of Heartless in there. It would be wise if you get your weapons out, in case they're still there." Amara whispered to him from behind the bush they were hiding behind. We were the last ones to go in and we needed a plan.

Axel summoned his chakrams into his hands and nodded approvingly.

My wings protruded from my back, cutting my skin, sending black blood down my back. I stood and grabbed Axel's arm as I flew into the air.

My wings found their rhythm and we were soon at the broken window, with no signs of the small black beasts. I flew cautiously into the window, careful not to cut my wings on the broken glass.

I dropped Axel over a table, which he landed on steadily. The Lunch Room was deserted, no sign of the Heartless. Axel looked to the place where I was hovering in the air and raised and eyebrow. I shrugged back and flew over to the broken door and looked inside. The hallways were empty, to my confusion.

"There are none... where are they?" Axel said, more to himself. He heard a small squeak from above him and looked up in horror.

Millions of Heartless were all on the ceiling, none of the white of the paint was seen. I checked the ceiling of the hallway to find it too was covered in the beasts.

"Come here!" I yelled and jumped into the air, grabbing Axel's arm and flying through the broken door. Some of the Heartless jumped of the ceiling and scratched and clawed at my skin. I yelped as one of the beasts cut one of my muscles and I nearly ran head-on into the wall.

In the rush to Gym 2, I noticed that every one of the ceilings were crawling with Heartless. A Heartless had finally gathered some brains, to the expense of me, and cut into my back.

I screamed in pain as I collided with Gym 2's door, taking Axel with me...


	11. Fight For Freedom

**A Journey to Find Myself**

**Chapter 11**

**Fight for Freedom**

**Kairi's POV**

My eyes were deceiving me, I was dreaming, this was all a nightmare… I didn't care, I just wanted to get rid of what was set out in front of me.

Riku, my best friend, was standing in the middle of the Gym, the darkness pouring from his hands transforming into Heartless. He wore a dark purple and navy blue shirt that's pattern looked like muscles. A red hear was on his chest, pants decorated in the same fashion on his legs. His black boots were sinister looking and pointed. His silver hair flowed down his back to the tips of his shoulder blades and his aquamarine eyes shone with malice. The walls, floor and ceiling, were teaming with heartless and dark holes.

I heard a crash at the door and spun around. The doors had burst open and Amara and Axel fell inside, unconscious and bleeding.

The Heartless swarmed around them.

"No!" I yelled urgently, the other of my teammates joining in the struggle and I tried to pry the Heartless away from the two.

Once the Heartless scattered, there was no sight of them, not a trace that they had ever been there.

"What…?" I whispered and turned back to Riku. He smirked at me, the darkness in his hands slowly dissipating.

"Welcome Kairi, so nice to see you…" Riku smirked. He outstretched his hands and darkness shot out, covering everyone one by one.

Sora…

Selphie…

Naminè…

Tidus…

Wakka…

Emma…

Demyx…

Shay…

Zexion…

All disappeared into the darkness. I fought to free myself as the darkness took hold of me. It was hopeless; the pull of the darkness was too great.

Riku smirked at me and I started to feel angry and hateful.

&&&

I awoke on soft grass. I felt a slight breeze wash over me and I opened my eyes.

All I saw was the blood red sky. I shot up and looked around me. My ground was huddled around something.

I crawled over and looked over their shoulders. I nearly burst into tears. Everyone looked to me with revengeful, angry, hateful and saddened looks. Lying on the ground was Naminè, a dark sword through her heart. Her eyes were open and glassy, foam forming at her mouth. She was as pale as death itself.


	12. Burials

**A Journey to Find Myself**

**Chapter 12**

**Burials**

**Kairi's POV**

A million emotions were running through me. My heart pounded painfully in my chest.

Amara sang a mournful tune, memories of the past flashing through the air. Naminè lay on a mound of flat dirt, her hair brushed and lying neatly near her head. Axel set fire to her small body and it took everything inside me not to look away. Emma and Demyx both sent water around Naminè's burning body, keeping the flames from escaping.

I saw Tidus from the corner of my eye clenching his fists. His teeth were clenched as the flames slowly engulfed Naminè's body. His eyes shined bright and tears rolled freely down his cheeks.

There was silence as the group gathered round in a tight circle. No one uttered a sound, the cold night's air hitting their faces.

Axel, with a quick gesture for everyone to move back a little, sent a spark of fire to the ground, using his powers to control it. They now had a fire, and Amara and Emma planted sturdy logs around it to keep it in.

I took a quick glance at everyone. Their hopes, their freedom; everything that kept them going was being driven away by the truth. When will they endure the same fate as Naminè?

"I can't take this anymore!" Shay yelled abruptly. Everyone looked to her in surprise. She stood up and looked to them all with a raging glare. "We should be finding out where we are, and how to get home, not sitting her feeling sorry for ourselves! Naminè's death was not our fault, nor could it have been avoided. It just HAPPENED!"

Everyone was quiet, and Tidus bent his head to the ground, his body shaking. He flung himself onto his feet and pointed a finger to her.

"Naminè was our friend! We cannot simply throw away our memories of her in a little under one hour!" Tidus yelled at her. Shay clenched her fists.

"I'm not saying that. Yes, Naminè was a great friend, and I will miss her even though I only knew her a short time, but while we sit here grieving over her, there are people plotting to kill us! They're waiting for us to make a mistake, and this is one of them!" Shay screamed at him. Even the fire seemed to quiver from her anger.

Tidus was speechless, but he did have a reply. With one swift move, he punched Shay with all his might on her cheek, sending her to the ground where she landed with a _THUMP!_

"TIDUS!" I screamed at him. Emma, Amara, Selphie, Zexion and I all went over to help Shay, while Axel held Tidus back from going at her again. Demyx, Wakka and Sora stood in the middle, checking to make sure that Tidus didn't get free and to make sure Shay was ok.

"Let me GO!" Tidus yelled angrily and escaped Axel's grip. He backed away, just out of reach of Axel and the others. "You're on her side aren't you?!" And after that, he ran further away from the campsite and disappeared into the mist.

"We have to go after him! He could get himself killed out there!" Demyx said, though he was still angry at the fiery blitzer.

Zexion helped Shay up from the ground. Upon falling, she'd sprained her ankle. He picked her up off her feet and carried her bridal style as he walked in the direction Tidus had run.

"You think they could leave us alone sometimes!" Axel yelled more to himself then anyone else. They were surrounded by many Heartless.

Demyx and Emma moved identically and a whole lot of water engulfed some of the Heartless. Shay, though she was still held safe in Zexion's arms, sent frozen icicles as sharp as a dagger at the small black beasts. Zexion squinted his eyes for a moment but when they opened, nothing happened, but the Heartless stood where they were, twitching in confusion.

"What did you do?" Kairi asked. Zexion smirked and a glint of humor touched his eyes.

"They think there is a twenty foot wall surrounding us." He said simply. Shay laughed.

_How evil can ya get!_ She thought.

The fight was simple after wards. They simply picked off the Heartless at their leisure.

Suddenly, Selphie saw something on the ground not too far away from where they were. She ran over cautiously.

Her screams pierced the silence…


	13. Coming Together Yet Drifting Apart

**A Journey to Find Myself**

**Chapter 13**

**Coming Together but Drifting Apart**

The sight was gruesome. Tidus' body lay mangled across the ground, Selphie stood, Riku's sword through her stomach, choking on her blood. Riku stood smirking at us, his eyes flashing with malevolence.

"Glad to see you all, alive no less." Riku announced and with one swift movement; he pulled his sword from Selphie's lifeless body. Without the sword to keep her body balanced upright, she fell to the ground.

I glared long and hard straight into Riku's eyes. My heart ached with strong feelings of anger, hatred, betrayal and sadness. With a flick of my wrists, I summoned my ruby dagger into my hand and charged towards Riku. He lent back on one leg and threw me through the air.

**Bystander's POV**

Sora growled and leapt forward, thrusting his newly summoned Light Keyblade at Riku's stomach. Riku's and his sword met halfway through Sora's jump. He pushed onto his weapon and jumped behind Riku, spinning and tried to strike his back. Riku blocked the attack and grasped Sora's shoulder and sent him flying through the air.

Amara stood in front of Riku while Axel stood ready behind him. With a hasty hand gesture they both charged towards him. Riku crossed his arms and bent his head; sending a dark purple and blue shield into the air, knocking both of them to the ground, unconscious.

"AH!" Shay cried as she aimed with her gun, filled with a green liquid, and shot. Zexion stood beside her, eyes closed and concentrating hard. The gun's shot missed Riku by a hair and Riku smirked maliciously.

Wakka summoned his blitzball and flung it at Riku. With his fast reflexes, Riku spun around and hit the blitzball straight back at Wakka; the impact sending Wakka further away from the fight.

"Dance water DANCE!" Demyx yelled and sent sprouts of water towards the enemy.

"Tides of hope, banish those who wish ill against us." Emma said swiftly and the water which appeared in front of her took on the shape of a dagger.

Riku let out a small laugh.

**&&&&**

Kairi groaned.

"Where am I?" She said aloud while rubbing her sore head. Her whole body ached.

"I don't know…" Sora said. Kairi spun her head quickly to her brown haired friend, and immediately regretted it when her head began to pound. "Take it easy. I'm guessing when we fought Riku, we must have fallen unconscious."

"Where are the others?" Kairi said slowly. Sora shook his head.

"I don't know… I haven't seen them."

During the silence that engulfed the two, Kairi surveyed their surroundings. The land around them was covered in a thick, grey mist. The ground had thick, silver grass sprouting from the dirt. No matter which direction she looked, Kairi could see no distinct difference anywhere.

"It all looks the same." Kairi said, more to herself then Sora. Sora nodded his head solemnly.

"I've been looking around for hours while you were still out cold. If you concentrate hard enough, you can slightly smell iron." Sora stated. Kairi closed her eyes and concentrated on picking up any sort of smell.

As Sora said, she could smell ever so slightly the smell of iron. It seemed to be coming from a fair way away.

"Why not follow it?" Kairi said. Sora looked thoughtfully off into the distance.

"I don't know. A lot of strange things are happening here… We're practically in the middle of no where. And haven't you noticed that since we got here we haven't been in any way tired, hungry or thristy? Something suspicious is going on, and I don't know what it is…"

**&&&&**

"Axel, can you smell that?" Amara asked. Axel sniffed the air and nodded.

"If you mean that rusty metal smell then yes." He replied.

"We must be near a building of some description." Amara said thoughtfully, looking into the distance. Axel raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I can see it's shadow right over there…" Amara pointed to a dark shape in the mist.

**&&&&**

"Shay… SHAY!" Zexion said as he shook Shay's shoulders. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around dreamily.

"Whaaaaat…?" She said groggily.

"Finally. Your up. We're going to try and find everyone else." Zexion informed her.

"How…?" Shay was rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I can smell iron in the air, and I can sense a powerful entity nearby."

Shay's face cracked into a smile. "Does that mean we can kick but?"

"Yes… Yes it does."

**&&&&**

"You leave him ALONE!" Emma cried. She stood behind steel prison bars, her hands gripping as hard as she could onto the greasy surface. Demyx was at the back of the cell, leaning on the black stone wall. Wakka was tied up by his wrists to the wall, and a man cloaked in a long black coat with a whip was coming closer and closer.

Demyx's face was cloudy; dreamy almost. He was looking to the ground, but not really seeing it.

Tears splattered down Emma's face as she heard the cries of anguish from Wakka, as the whip hit his skin.

"Please… Stop… Hurting… Him…" Emma whispered, with each word she slowly slid closer to the floor. She fell into a deep sleep, with Wakka's shouts as her lullaby.


	14. Throwing Away The Past: Kairi & Sora

**A Journey To Find Myself**

**Chapter 14**

**Throwing Away the Past: Kairi & Sora**

Kairi held her head, as Sora and herself walked in the direction of the iron smell. Sora was awfully quiet, which had Kairi a little worried yet relieved because even hearing herself think caused her a headache.

Without warning, a breeze picked up. It caused Kairi's hair to fly everywhere, and her hair to fall out of its pony tail; and Sora's chain from around his neck flew off.

Kairi's hair band fell in Sora's hands, while Sora's chain fell into Kairi's hands. Kairi examined the chain carefully.

"You kept it…" Kairi whispered. Sora looked to her quizzically.

"What?" Sora asked. Kairi looked Sora in the eye.

"This chain; I gave it to you on your twelfth birthday…"

Sora nodded.

"Of course I kept it, why wouldn't I? It was a wonderful gift."

A single tear fell down Kairi's face, and she smiled, which he returned gratefully. Kairi walked up close to Sora and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you." She whispered.

Sora smiled harder and wrapped his arms around Kairi's waist.

After a few minutes, Sora decided to ask:

"What's with the hair band?"

Kairi smiled and backed away politely from Sora, and grasped his hand which held her hair band. She picked it up from the palm of his hands and threw it to the ground, remembering all the reasons why she wore it.

"_He's gone; there's no point."_

"_I don't CARE how good I look! This is how I looked then and how I will look forever more!"_

"Nothing… Nothing at all…"

**&&&&**

"Sora… Can I ask you a question?" Kairi asked. They had been walking for hours and the smell on the air began to get a little bit stronger.

"Yeah, sure Kairi." Sora said and smiled goofily at her.

"I'm still not sure…" she hesitated, "why you're here. I mean, aren't you supposed to be… Dead?"

Kairi was preparing herself for Sora to begin to get angry, but instead he looked calm.

"I should be yes. After my parent's accident, I woke up in the car, my parents dead. I ran away, not knowing what else to really do." Sora started, and took a deep breath. "What I didn't realize was, I was being followed. Men and creatures alike were after me. That was when I met Cloud, Aeirth and Yuffie."

"You mean Mr. Strife, Ms. Gainsborough and Ms. Kisagari?"

"Yes. Them. They hid me, and on the day of the invasion, I was forced out of hiding and came to the school, knowing they were there. That was when I walked in on your little fainting scene."

"Oh." Kairi said, everything coming together. "Why didn't you ever come sooner? Why not hide at the school?"

"Because I didn't want to put the whole school in danger." Sora said.

"Oh… Sor-" Kairi started but Sora silenced her.

"What is it?" Kairi asked. Sora simply pointed forward.

There, in front of them, were huge, black double gates, leading to an enormous castle.


	15. Realizing Differences: Axel & Amara

**A Journey to find Myself**

**Chapter 15**

**Realizing Differences: Axel & Amara**

"Now I think I know why we're the only ones here: it stinks!" Axel complained. Amara rolled her eyes and continued walking, taking in the scent of the metal becoming stronger: the shadow of the castle becoming more prominent.

"Hey Amara, what do you think will happen once we get out of this hell-hole?" Axel asked. Amara glared at him and he winced.

"Let's worry about getting out first!" She retorted bitterly.

"Shesh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Axel said, and no more words were exchanged.

Axel was beginning to become bored. He swore the castle began to get smaller and then bigger again. Randomly, he began whistling.

A vein on Amara's head popped. Her temper was slowly rising, threatening to explode. Of course Axel noticed this so he continued, louder and more off-key then before.

"Can you please QUIT IT!" Amara screamed. Her face was flushed and she glared hatefully at the red-head.

Axel simply continued. Amara was slowly feeling the urge to knock him out.

And, unbeknownst to the two, as Amara's temper rose, the ground began to shake.

"Shut UP!" Amara yelled again. By this point, they had both noticed the sudden change. Holes began to open in the ground, the earth ripping.

"Oh no…" Axel said, as heartless began to climb out of the holes. Amara spun around, shocked, and quickly began to fight. Axel began fighting them away with fire.

The heartless cut and scratched into their skin, leaving heavy gashes. These heartless, small as they may be, were so much stronger then before.

When there were but five left, they gathered in a group and pounced on Amara.

"Get off!" Axel yelled and killed them with fire, their scratchy screams fading away.

"Are you ok?" Axel asked, as he knelt down next to Amara. She had many small gashes on her arms, face and her clothes. Axel put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a bottle with a green liquid. He began to rub it on her wounds, which slowly disappeared; forgetting about his own.

"Thank… You…" Amara gasped. Axel put a hand up to her face, to check for anything he missed.

Suddenly, his eyes met hers, and he took in their original red tone. They almost seemed to reflect her fiery spirit; not to mention her power.

She stared into his emerald eyes. They were such a simple colour yet they were so complicated.

Axel and Amara leaned in at the same time, until their lips met in the middle.


	16. Mind Control: Shay & Zexion

**A Journey To Find Myself**

**Chapter 16**

**Mind Control: Shay & Zexion**

"This is so boring!" Shay whined. They had been walking for hours, following the smell in the air.

"Look, it's coming closer. See the outline over there?" Zexion said calmly and true to his word the outline of a castle had began to take shape.

"Woo hoo! Finally!" Shay said excitedly.

"Wait… I can sense something…" Zexion and Shay stopped. Zexion closed his eyes and concentrated on this thing he was sensing. It was mind control, someone was about to be possessed, or already was…

"What is it?" Shay said, completely oblivious.

Zexion opened his eyes and looked to Shay. "Someone is using Mind powers."

Shay's eyes widened and their pace sped as the castles shadow grew bigger and bigger.

"Stop." Zexion said simply. Shay obeyed and looked around.

A while away from them, they could see the outline of two shadows. The shadows gradually got closer together and looked like one big shadow. It sometimes moved out and sometimes began even smaller. Gradually it sunk to the ground, still there but thinner.

"Show yourself!" Shay yelled suspiciously, her heart racing. The shadow jumped up, separating into two.

"Shay!" Two voices yelled back, who Shay and Zexion recognized as Axel and Amara's. As they came into view, Shay first noticed their reddened cheeks and ruffled hair.

Zexion raised and eyebrow, and Axel and Amara both blushed.

"Explain later; right now we got to GO!" Shay said and began sprinting towards the castle.

"Hey! Wait up!" Axel shouted and ran after her, followed by Amara and Zexion.

_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_

Three cloaked figures approached the castle. The one on the far left, clearly female and shortest of them all, stopped in her tracks.

"Are you sure they'll be here?" An innocent voice asked concerned.

"Positive. The Mind powers emanating from that castle would pull them in." A sinister voice came from beneath a hood.

"Let's hope we're not too late…"

_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_o_X_

They stood before the gates; looking in fear to the castle beyond. Shay poked the gate, and it sprung open rapidly. Zexion groaned and rubbed his forehead; while Axel and Amara gave her the 'thumbs-up' from behind him.

"Not my fault!" Shay defended herself, as Zexion shook his head and they all walked through. The strong putrid stench of iron engulfed their senses and their eyes began to water from the density of the air.

"Something doesn't seem right…" Amara stated, and they all became aware of the sense of dread; that something was following them.

Something was watching them.

The cry that they all heard was expected, but still shocked them anyway. It sounded like a massive bird of some sort.

They all spun around behind them, to see a huge, dragon-like creature approaching. It twisted and flowed through the air so swiftly and efficiently that it looked like it was a snake slithering upon the ground. Its wings were three times the size of its body, which was the size of a small house. The head resembled a rock; which was creased and worn down by waves. Its skin was like leather, the wings looking like they would tear at any moment.

"It comes upon us!" Zexion shouted, and they all prepared themselves. They could all hear it's uneven wing beats as it edged closer.

Shay screamed. In an instant, the creature had forcefully grabbed Shay and Zexion from the ground, and flew off with them in its claws.

Axel sent a flame at the creatures gnarled foot, but his reaction was too slow for the beast and it escaped harm. Axel and Amara watched helplessly as the creature flew to the other side of the castle, taking their friends with them.

"Come on! We have to help them!" Amara yelled to Axel, as they raced to the castle.


End file.
